Granite Point Mortgage Trust (GPMT) Competitors

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) and Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, GPMT or ACRE?

Ares Commercial Real Estate has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Granite Point Mortgage Trust. Ares Commercial Real Estate is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Granite Point Mortgage Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	$185.55M	0.66	-$207.05M	-$3.08	-0.82
Ares Commercial Real Estate	$25.75M	10.13	-$34.99M	-$0.25	-18.98

Is GPMT or ACRE a better dividend stock?

Granite Point Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Ares Commercial Real Estate pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.6%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust pays out -6.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ares Commercial Real Estate pays out -240.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Ares Commercial Real Estate is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer GPMT or ACRE?

In the previous week, Granite Point Mortgage Trust had 2 more articles in the media than Ares Commercial Real Estate. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Granite Point Mortgage Trust and 3 mentions for Ares Commercial Real Estate. Granite Point Mortgage Trust's average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat Ares Commercial Real Estate's score of 0.53 indicating that Granite Point Mortgage Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ares Commercial Real Estate	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of GPMT or ACRE?

51.6% of Granite Point Mortgage Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.3% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Granite Point Mortgage Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate GPMT or ACRE?

Granite Point Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.34%. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a consensus target price of $5.58, indicating a potential upside of 17.49%. Given Granite Point Mortgage Trust's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Granite Point Mortgage Trust is more favorable than Ares Commercial Real Estate.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Ares Commercial Real Estate	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83

Which has more volatility and risk, GPMT or ACRE?

Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Commercial Real Estate has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GPMT or ACRE more profitable?

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a net margin of -20.22% compared to Granite Point Mortgage Trust's net margin of -83.98%. Ares Commercial Real Estate's return on equity of -1.51% beat Granite Point Mortgage Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	-83.98%	-18.94%	-5.47%
Ares Commercial Real Estate	-20.22%	-1.51%	-0.46%

Summary

Granite Point Mortgage Trust beats Ares Commercial Real Estate on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.